It is well known that as persons age, they develop, to one degree or another, age lines or depressions which become more or less prominent parts of their facial features and are generally considered undesirable in appearance. It is believed that the age lines are caused by a natural loss of collegen from the skin tissue, but it is not necessary to the understanding of the instant invention to establish that as a scientific fact. The deepest age lines generally develop overlying the orbicularis oris muscle (the muscle surrounding the lips which allows "puckering"). These lines run generally from a point adjacent a nostril to a point in the vicinity of the corner of the mouth on the same side of the face.
A "plumper", an outward distortion of the frontal upper gum area of a denture, has been used to compensate for loss of material in the upper jaw bone in elderly patients who wear dentures. This bone loss is believed to be fairly common in older persons who wear artificial dentures and the effect of the plumper is to restructure the outer skin tissue to its earlier configuration so that it does not sag inward toward the anterior upper jaw. The plumper is typically a feature installed in the upper denture gum area above and between the upper canine teeth.
Various creams, lotions and skin conditioners are available which are purported to reduce or eliminate the negative aspects of the appearance of these age lines. However, invariably, they must be applied continually and there is certainly no immediate effect. In many cases application is messy and the long term effect is de minimus at best and not noticeable at worst.